Advantages for African American Spaces Only
For Those Needing Safe Spaces
"...As your own analysis shows, there are advantages to sometimes working in multiracial spaces and at other times to spaces for African Americans alone.
In pursuing a two-pronged approach to community building within a cluster, some gatherings will take place in neighborhoods and some in a locality or at the cluster level. These can be organized in different ways to meet different needs. Even with neighborhoods, some will involve an interracial population and others will not. But you should not underestimate the value of contributing to spiritual empowerment and community building in an African American neighborhood where the work of a few dedicated friends can lead to the participation of scores of families—an experience that can itself radically alter and revive a local Bahá’í community that showed no previous capacity to deal with matters of race. " (Universal House of Justice to the U.S. National Spiritual Assembly, March 24, 2019)
Safe Space POTE Firesides on most Friday Nights- Hosted by Barbara Talley
Have you been wanting a safe space to learn, consult, heal, worship, and to bring your seekers that is focused on the station of the "Pupil of the Eye"? Well, this is it!
SPEAKER LINEUP FOR THE REST OF 2020 BELOW FOR POTE SAFE-SPACE FIRESIDES. INVITE YOUR POTE FRIENDS AND FAMILY
We will be coming together every 2nd and 4th Friday nights and occasionally on other Fridays. We will answer questions for seekers and if none are there, OR they have no questions, we will study pertinent documents, pray, share, listen to a speaker, or just be together!
To receive a zoom invitation, complete this short questionnaire.
BLACK FRIDAY SPEAKERS
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2021 @8PM EST
ERIC DOZIER
Musical Journey through America's Race Relations
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SPECIAL PROGRAM TONIGHT!!!!!!!!
HATRED DOESN'T SLEEP, NEITHER SHALL WE!!!
TERRORIST GROUPS ARE REASSERTING THEMSELVES! WE MUST BE READY WITH A SPIRITUAL RESPONSE TO A SPIRITUAL DISEASE!
I charge you all that each one of you concentrate all the thoughts of your heart on love and unity. When a thought of war comes, oppose it by a stronger thought of peace.
A thought of hatred must be destroyed by a more powerful thought of love.
Thoughts of war bring destruction to all harmony, well-being, restfulness and content.
(Abdu'l-Baha, Paris Talks, p. 29)
BILLIE MAYO SPEAKS DECEMBER 11, 2020 ON BLACK FRIDAY
An Evening with Dr. Billie Mayo- Co-Author of 'Becoming a Social Justice Leader: Using Head, Heart, and Hands to Dismantle Oppression'
ABOUT DR. BILLIE MAYO
Billie will share in her presentation information on how the oppression of internalized racism limits us from accessing our flexible and brilliant thinking, how it impedes us from having loving and trusting relationships with people who look like us, and how it can hinder us from fully embracing our nobility. We will explore ways in which the Baha’i writings and other information clearly delineate the path that we as POTES can tread as we live into our knowledge of who we are as described by Baháu’lláh when He “compared the colored people to the black pupil of the eye surrounded by the white. In this black pupil is seen the reflection of that which is before it, and through it the light of the spirit shineth forth.” (“Abdu’l’Bahá, Advent of Divine Justice, p.31
Dr. Billie Mayo, a retired educator, is a Senior Consultant and former co- owner of Educational Equity Consultants, an organization committed to dismantling the oppression of racism in public education and to building the capacity of individuals, schools and other organizations to address racism in ways that enable all people to reclaim their inherent intelligence and nobility. Dr. Mayo spent twenty-three years as a middle school educator before moving to central level administration where she worked until retiring from Saint Louis Public Schools after 38 years of dedicated service to that District.
While working in the Saint Louis Public School District, Billie conducted a number of in-services for personnel on a wide range of topics such as teambuilding, effective communication, improving discipline with dignity, conflict mediation and stress management. She has shared her expertise and insight on how to dismantle racism and build multicultural alliances among people in a number of places both internationally such as the Virgin Islands and South Africa and nationally in school districts in Portland Oregon, Wichita and Winfield Kansas, Santa Barbara, San Diego, and Long Beach California.
Dr. Mayo who is the co-author of the book, Becoming a Social Justice Leader: Using Head, Heart, and Hands to Dismantle Oppression.
YOU MAY INVITE YOUR FRIENDS, BUT REMEMBER THIS IS FOR PUPIL OF THE EYE ONLY! THEY CAN STILL REGISTER AT THE LINK BELOW. MAKE SURE THEY SAVE THE LINK.
KATHLEEN CROSS SPEAKS DECEMBER 4, 2020 ON BLACK FRIDAY
I AM SO EXCITED TO HAVE KATHLEEN CROSS JOIN US THIS FRIDAY NIGHT IN OUR POTE-SAFE SPACE!!!! SHE WILL SHARE SOME INSIGHTS ON COLORISM!
Kathleen Cross is an author, educator and speaker who has been a guest on numerous television and radio shows including Oprah, Montel and Dr. Phil to discuss ethnic identity and cross-cultural communication. Kathleen is the author of Skin Deep (Avon, 1999) an award-winning novel that has been required reading in several U.S. colleges and universities, and Schooling Carmen (Avon, 2004) the story of an East L.A. high school counselor whose survival depends on her ability to embrace change.
If you are a POTE (person of African descent) and have not registered, you can still register at Sign up for POTE Black Friday and Receive Log-in Lin .The zoom link will pop-up, please be sure to copy it.